I just pulled up the radar (a site that does not filter out birds: rap.ucar.edu) and looked at the latest radar images. A mass of intense reflections appears to be lifting from coastal or near coastal areas and progressing northward. Birds that crossed the Gulf today and were forced to stop in the wetlands and barrier islands at and near the coast by the north-ish winds that occurred around mid day. Or so I would guess.
For verification, I stepped outside just now (9:20) and watched the moon with binoculars for 5 minutes. Six bird silhouettes (songbird-like) crossed it northbound, most quite high up, presumably migrants departing from points south. Another that looked more like it might have been a shorebird crossed westward, a path harder to interpret. Six in 5 minutes is a pretty good rate, compared to most most moon-watching I have done. Because the coastal birds will be beyond us soon on tonight's northward movement, I wouldn't expect many to visible as silhouettes against the moon for long.
Last night there seems to have been another departure, as evidenced by radar images and by a Wood Thrush that I found around 10 pm stunned on the sidewalk in front of a hotel in Harvey on the West Bank. A photo below was taken inside the hotel where I inspected and found no obvious injury. I have it in a standard "bander's grip." I blew back the breast feathers and saw that it had a small fat deposit (it appears white) inside the furcular region (the depression between the bird's neck and rib cage), which is typical of migrants. I put it back outside and presume it fared okay.
Peter
Lucky Wood thrush.
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